This has become a tricky market, with the rise and fall of so many card companies everyone askes who/what is the best investment. I say if your doing it for investment you might want to rethink your reasoning.

Sportscards have always been fun and enjoyable from children to adults it great opening that pack of cards and pulling your  favorite player be it Mantle, Ruth, Bonds or even Ronny Paulino chances are someone has made a card of them. If you in it for money your best bet is always vintage cards because there will never be any more of those printed then there already are, with todays cards they go up an down in price and if a player gets injured your 500.00 investment goes to 1.00.

Guys like Mickey Mantly, Willie Mays, Johnny Unitas, Wayne Gretzky they have no reason to fluctuate in price since their careers are long since over. Three things will affect the price of cards when a player is retired

1.What do they do now, if they turn to acting, announcing or stay in the public eye then their cards usually hold value. If they vanish ala Mark Mcgwire their cards tend to go downward.

2.HOF usually when a player is elected to their Hall of Fame their cards will see an increase in activity because they are proven to be the very best of their sport.

3.Passing away. Sadly that is when a players cards see the most activity. If a player passes away his cards especially his autographs will increase significantly for a short period of time. If a young player should pass like Kirby Puckett then his cards sharply increase till the market levels back out.

If your like me and in it for love not money than the 3 previous things won't apply, you collect the player/team because you love to follow them. Me I'm a Pirates fan so it would be easy for me to collect Roberto Clemente but I grew up on guys like Bonds, Bonilla, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson so that is who I collect. Sure I have some Clemente because he is part of the teams history but my main focus is on the current crop of loveable losers.

So if you in it for the money your in it for ALL the wrong reasons, it takes passsion for a player or team to devote your hard earned money and admiration to a piece of cardboard knowing fair well that like Fleer, Pacific, Collectors Edge and many more card companies that one day they will only be worth the price of recycled paper..